


Rainy Days

by Skeletonbrothersreptilelovers



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underswap, Angst, Anti-monster organization, Dog - Freeform, I tried to keep it as gender neutral as possible, Kidnapping, Kinda, Major character death - Freeform, Minor Character Death, Multi, Racism, Reader Has Secrets, Reader Is Not Chara, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader has dog, Reader is a detective, Reader is a mage, Reader is gender neutral, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, maybe? - Freeform, might be some parts that imply reader as a girl, more to be added - Freeform, reader has magic, underswap - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 13:15:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20874803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skeletonbrothersreptilelovers/pseuds/Skeletonbrothersreptilelovers
Summary: You’re one of the world’s greatest detectives. Never once have you failed a case handed to you, and you’ve never turned down a case either. At least until recently, that is. When your pendant, the only way you’ll ever be able to find your way home, gets stolen, you don’t have time to worry about anyone else. Unfortunately, it’s not long after monsters start disappearing, and you have to keep disappointing both them and humans alike.At least until a skeleton walks into your office, and you realize the same people who are taking the monsters have your pendant.You decide to kill two birds with one stone....What’s with the weird storm?….Papyrus is slowly realizing you’re a bigger mystery than the cases you take on.





	Rainy Days

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for clicking on my story!!  
The first part is going to mostly be in Papyrus's POV, but it switches to you in the next chapter. Also, while I'm trying to keep the reader as gender-neutral as possible, some parts might imply the reader is a female. Since that's how I see her.  
Otherwise, in case you didn't catch it, this is a UnderSwap fanfic! Please enjoy! ^^

How long has it been? How long since he last made his tacos? How long since he last bounced through the door, full of energy despite the intense training with Alphys? How long since he last scolded him for not picking up his sock, or washing his clothes, or cleaning his room, or napping, or…

Papyrus trembled softly, barely managing to hold back a sob. He misses it because he has his hands covering his face, but Alphys gives him a sad, concerned, and understanding look.

How long had it been since he last saw his brother? How long has Sans been missing?

So many monsters had been disappearing lately without a trace. No evidence, no clue if it’s a human's or a monster's doing, no trails to follow, no nothing. Not even dust is left behind, and Papyrus doesn’t know if he’s relieved or terrified because of it.

It either means whoever it is isn’t killing monsters, but instead kidnapping them for whatever reason - or it meant that someone was taking them and killing them somewhere else, and getting rid of the dust to cover their tracks. No dust has shown up in the streets, or at least not enough that it could cover every missing monster, so the only other option was they were alive or the dust was disposed of. 

His soul clenches painfully. He wants Sans to be alive, but if he… If he isn’t, then he at least wants his dust. So he can sprinkle it on his favorite bandana. Besides, even if they managed to catch the person and they say they killed him, he’ll never really know. Without proof of dust, there will always be that little hope. That hope of just maybe… Maybe the person wanted to play one last sick joke, and that he was out there.

Papyrus shakes his head in jerky motions, leaning forward in a more slouched position

No, no. Don’t think like that anymore, he is alive. Sans is alive. He just knows he is, he can feel it in his soul.

Please, dear Toriel, don’t let his soul be wrong.

“Paps…,” he flinches at the sound of his name, “we’re… We’re gonna f-find him, o-okay?” He isn’t sure when Undyne had sat beside him, but she had and now had her hand gently resting on his back. 

Papyrus doesn’t answer for a while, before finally whispering a hoarse ‘I know’. 

It takes another hour before Papyrus finally gets a small grip on himself again. He stands up, startling Undyne who had been having a quiet conversation with Alphys. He takes a deep breath in and then lets it back out.

Then again just for good measures.

“Okay… Okay, ‘m alright now…” At the couple’s skeptical looks, he sighs, “By that I mean I’m ready to start looking again.” He and the girls have been looking for Sans specifically (other monsters were looking too but for other monsters rather his brother) every day for the past month, hoping to find some sort of trace of something. They both give him a look that has him stop putting his shoes on.

“Papyrus… Dude, I miss Sans too, a lot, but you can’t keep doing this to yourself,” Alphys says in a gentle tone, which she has uncharastically been using a lot, “You wake up, act like you’re about to dust any second for an hour or two, and then go look for Sans until you physically can’t anymore. Then you come home with the tiny ounce of power you have left, pass out for three hours, and repeat.”

Undyne flinches under his blank stare. While it had been Alphys talking, she knows the look is directed at them both. If one is saying it, both are thinking it, after all.

“P-Paps, Please. We don’t m-mean it in a bad way… We’re just worried a-about you!” Undyne shrinks a little closer to Alphys, who wraps her arm protectively around her when his stare somehow becomes colder. Then, a lot quieter, “W-we already l-lost one f-f-friend… We d-don’t want to l-lose you t-too.”

Papyrus’s expression fell, but whether it was because he felt bad for making her stutter a lot worse than normal or because her words affected him, she wasn’t sure.

“...You’re right,” Papyrus lets out a tired sigh, “But what am I supposed to do, ‘Dyne? I just… I just miss him so much and…” Papyrus takes a deep breath, tightly closing his eyesockets to stop the tears from flowing. “... And I just don’t know what to do…” 

His voice crackled, and he sounded so vulnerable. So weak. So broken… Like he had already lost hope the minute he went missing. And knowing Papyrus, deep down he probably did, as much as he tells everyone and himself he didn't.

Their souls broke for their friend. Papyrus never allowed his emotions out in front of them, or anyone. Always so controlled. Even during all this time, after his hour or so of silently almost breaking in the morning, he stood up with that grin of his and was ready to go. To see him like this? They couldn’t put it into words. 

“Paps…” Undyne’s eyes watered, her voice sounding just as rough as his. She stood up and pulled him into a tight hug, running her webbed fingers up and down his clothed spine comfortingly. 

It took a while, but eventually Paps sagged into her hug and returned it, burning his face into her blood-red hair. He wasn’t making any noise anymore, but she knew he was still crying by the way he was shaking.

Alphys hesitantly joined them, wrapping them both in a hug from behind Papyrus.

“We’ll find him, Papyrus… We will…” Alphys mumbled, her voice muffled by his hoodie. Despite that, he could still hear the hurt in her voice too. Everyone missed him so much.

They stayed like that for the rest of the day.

-

It was a week later whenever Papyrus couldn’t take it anymore. He and the girls had stopped looking after they shared their concerns with him, instead letting the authorities handle it. They brought him to their home, thinking it would be better for him to stay in their house than his. It would remind him less of Sans for the time being.

It… Did help, to a certain extent. 

Except it didn’t take away the guilt. He felt like he needed to be dedicating his entire time looking for his brother, despite knowing how useless it was. He felt that if it had been him instead of Sans, like it should’ve been, that he would’ve never stopped for a second. That he would use all his time and energy into finding him.

Papyrus just… Didn’t have that kind of energy though, and the thought put his guilty soul at ease. If only a little.

“They’ll never find Sans at this rate,” Papyrus scoffs, glaring harshly at the news reporter. He was pissed off because he knew the police had taken his file and carelessly put it with the rest. They were looking for everyone they could, but they haven’t even put his picture in the news yet.

He knew it wasn’t their fault. It wasn’t like they weren’t trying, they were, and he knew it. It’s just there are so many cases, they don’t have enough people to help everyone. He didn’t know what he was doing when it came to looking for answers, and the people who at least had an idea of what to do were to busy with everyone else.

It was frustrating.

“G-give it time, Paps. I’m sure they’ll get to him s-soon,” Undyne says, but the unsureness was evident in her tone. Papyrus only tsks in response, still annoyed at the police for things that weren’t their fault. Undyne swallows nervously at his poor response, despite knowing it wasn’t aimed at her.

“M-maybe we s-should change the c-channel,” Undyne suggest, but Papyrus doesn’t give her a yes or no. So she changes it anyways.

They’re greeted with a looney toons cartoon about a duck - Daffy Duck, was it? Undyne scrunches up her nose at the show, obviously disapproving. She was into anime, cartoons definitely weren’t her thing… But she knew Papyrus enjoys them, so she left it.

They watch the cartoon with little to no interest at first, Undyne because she wasn’t a fan of cartoons and Papyrus because he just wasn’t feeling up to it.

At least until something about the toon caught their attention at the same time.

The black duck had the typical detective get-up and had him played as a private detective.

_ Private detective. _

“A PRIVATE DETECTIVE!!!” Both Papyrus and Undyne shout at the same time, instantly jumping up from the couch. There’s a loud crash in the kitchen, along with muttered curses, but they both ignore it. They were staring at each other with excitement in their eyes.

“What the hell you PUNKS? You made me drop my coffee!” Alphys grumbled in annoyance, but her expression changed when she saw their expressions. “... What’s going on?”

They both look at her at the same time, their eyes practically sparkling. “Private detective…” They say it like it’s the answer they’ve been waiting for, and maybe it was.

For the first time in a while, Papyrus felt like he was getting somewhere.

He felt like he might actually find Sans.

He felt a little bit of hope.

-

Papyrus shakes off the few droplets of water that had managed to fall on his skull despite the umbrella. He heard Alphys grumble something about tails and rain and puddles don’t mix behind him, and then Undyne giggle. Lately it’s been raining almost nonstop, so that meant a lot of bad mixing for her.

They did a lot of research, and they found a really good detective - at least according to everyone they’ve helped. All three dug out any information they could find about this detective, and everyone said the same time. No case turned down, and no case went unsolved. 

And a lot of people had said this. He was honestly a little curious about just how many people this person helped.

The place wasn’t that big, but he’s not that surprised. It’s not like private detectives had a lot of employs, at least that’s what he gathered from his research. Most of them worked alone, and unlike the police, they didn’t interrogate several different people for several different crimes. It was normally one person, one crime at a time. 

The waiting area, or at least he assumes that’s what someone would call this area, wasn’t all that grand. It had simple wooden floors, green walls that flanked off due to age, and not all that decorated. An old bench and wore chairs set along the walls, most likely for the families that were waiting to get to speak to the detective. In between the chairs sat a small table with a lamp that had a few magazines stored under it, along with some children's books. 

The only other thing in the room was a wooden desk that sat in the far side of the room with two different doors behind it. One was on the left, unblocked by the desk and had the words DETECTIVE OFFICE written in a gold plate above it. The other door was on the right side of the room and was directly behind the desk. Didn’t have a name above it, and he briefly wondered what it was for.

The desk itself was simple, but it was a little cluttered. It had an older looking computer on the top of it, and several different papers were spread across it. A phone and pager set across it. A cup of something steaming that said “I like coffee a latte” written across the front sat new the front. Besides a few smaller things, like a cup of pens and a holder for paper clips, there wasn’t much. 

There was a name plate that said “Bell” across it, and he wondered if that was the person’s name or if it was there just because a push bell sat beside it.

Before he could think much of it, the sound of a door opening and a soft jingle caught his attention. He looks up from the name tag to see someone walking out of the unnamed door. They have a couple of files in their hands, but that’s not the first thing he notices.

No, the first thing he notices is that the person is a monster. A cat monster to be exact, and he felt a little bit of pressure release from his shoulders. He was a little worried the detective might not help him because he was a monster, but either this was them or they hired a monster. 

“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t hear anyone come in!” Her voice was smooth and soft, and very feminine. When she turned around and noticed them, he could see her appearance a lot better. She was a pure white, very fluffy and soft looking - he could imagine her fur felt like silk if he touched it - and was on the slimmer and short side. She wore a thick, red turtleneck that matched the color of her lipstick, and paired it off with a simple black skit. The only other thing noticeable about her appearance were her striking green eyes and the little pink color around her neck that had a bell.

That must’ve been where the soft jingling came from.

“No problem! But who are you? I don’t think I’ve ever met you punk, and that’s saying something!” Alphys quickly glanced the monster up and down with her single eye. It causes her ears to twitch, and she suddenly looked a little more nervous than before. 

Alphys had that effect on most newcomers.

“A-ah, I’m Bell. I don’t… Get out much, so you probably wouldn’t know me,” she offers a nervous smile, it only faltering a little when Alphys eyed her suspicously, “A-anyway! Did you three come in to get out of the weather? Wouldn’t be the first time.” She chuckles quietly, sitting down at her desk with the files.

They all give each other confused glances.

“What do you m-mean? This is the detective office, r-right?” Undyne says, unsure despite the name written above the door. The cat shifts a little uncomfortably again.

“... Yes, it is,” she responds, and Papyrus doesn’t like the look of guilt on her face. Like she already knows that she was going to say something they didn’t like.

“Then what do you mean, PUNK,” she flinches at Alphys shout, “why else would we be here?”

She glances between us nervously, looking like she’s trying to think of something to say. “... Ah, I see. A client, then. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to come back another time.” 

She stank back when he settled a glare on her.

“What do you mean, another time? Why?” He says, bitterness in his tone. He didn’t come all this way, get all this hope, just to be turned away without a good reason.

“B-because, well, the detective isn’t taking cases right now,” she looks like that’s all that was needed to say, but quickly continues when she realizes that wasn't good enough for at least two of them, “the d-detective is just! Really busy with all these other cases, you see!”

The squeak in her voice makes Papyrus feel like she's lying, but why would she lie? What reason would the detective have to not take a case then?

“Mhm, okay. Is the detective here then? I want to have a few words, maybe sort this out.” 

“O-oh, uh… No! No actually, went to get me some more coffee,” lies, her coffee is full, “ and won't be back for a while beca-” She gets caught off by her pager going off.

_“Kitten? Did you forget to bring me back those files? If you could, please bring them back now.”_ The pager clicked silent.

Papyrus didn't break eye contact with her the entire time, raising an eyebrow up at her. She nervously glanced away from him, and the back. She opened her mouth, maybe to make an excuse of some sort, before sighing in defeat. Maybe she decided it wasn’t worth the trouble.

“Follow me, Mr…?” She paused, glancing at him from over her shoulder as she approached the door.

“Papryus.”

“Ah, Mr. Papyrus... And _only_ Mr. Papyrus,” she added the last bit when Alphys and Undyne started to follow. Alphys scowled at her back, but otherwise stayed put. She glanced at Papyrus, but he just shrugged his shoulders before following after Bell.

This room was noticeably a lot more decorated, although it still had the same walls and floors. It was smaller, but it had a few pictures on the wall. A lot of them were small pictures of happy families, all with the same single person in each, who must be the detective. Another one had a picture of a dog in it, another one with the same dog and probably-detective hugging it, one with the cat monster seemingly laughing at something while laying over the dog, who had a look of annoyance. There are some news articles pinned up on the wall too. 

The only part of the wall that didn’t have pictures on it was the right side, which instead had a big board that had several pins sticking in it. There were a few notes pinned up and a picture of a pendant, but not much beyond that. There was another desk, this one more expensive looking than the last. In front of it was a soft looking dog bed, and beside the bed was two dog bowls - food and water - that both had the word clue written on it. He briefly noted there were a few chew toys too, but no dog so far.

The next thing he noticed was that the desk was way cleaning than Bell’s. It had a few files stacked up and some papers on the desk, but it was kept neat. There was a computer, a pager, and a phone much like the other desk too. It basically was the other desk, minus the coffee. The only other difference was the name change on the name tag, and replaxing the bell was a picture of probably-detective, the dog, and Bell.

Where was the detective?

As if on cue, the someone popped up from behind the desk, probably bent down to pick something up.

“Ah, thanks Kitten! I was wonder-” the person stopped talking when they finally looked up, instantly making eye contact with him.

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, maybe a super old man with grey hair, maybe even bald, with a scar across his face and cigar really fit the bill. Typical detective look.

He certainly wasn’t expecting to be met with someone who looked as nice as you.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading all the way to the end <3  
My tumblr is https://skeletonbrothersreptilelovers.tumblr.com/ (@skeletonbrothersreptilelovers) if you want to send me anything about the story! ^^


End file.
